Collision
by Rain on windows
Summary: Sollux, young, disillusioned, jaded and caught in a self destructive cycle of coffee and insomnia. Eridan, a young man trying to achieve the ambitions of his childhood while trying to live a comfortable life. But when their paths collide, they are forced to reevaluate and must learn who they really are. WARNING: Character death, rape. Rating will go up.
1. Chapter 1

Hey, so this is my first attempt at fan fiction in English. I hope I manage to capture the characters ok, as sometimes I feel things can get lost in translation, you know? So hopefully this won't be too angsty, but the rating will increase as there will be character death and the possibility of rape (I'm not sure if I should emit this as it may be too dark for this kind of fiction?) But anyway, I really hope you enjoy this. I have the entire thing drafted up, so it's only a matter of writing it down. Perspectives will change per chapter, so watch out for that.

I love you and hope you enjoy!

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Baggy eyed and weary, he took a sip of the overly sweet coffee. The warmth had long ago leeched into the freezing cold air but it mattered not. It still tasted good. He drained the dregs of the extra large cup, disposing of the cardboard container in the nearest bin. It was one of the coldest winters on record, so cold that the very air seemed to be frozen into spikes, pricking his lungs as he inhaled.

Flexing the stiffness of his fingers away, he buried his bands deep into his synthetic wool coat, finding his keys, he balled his right hand around them, the metal soon warming to body temperature.

The office block in which he worked his dead end- straight from university job was located far enough away from his apartment to justifiably use public transport, but he liked to take the walk. It gave his mind and eyes a break from the screens he was surrounded with day in and day out, as well as allowing him to grab a caramel macchiato from his favourite over-priced chain on the way. Always the same, grande with an extra espresso shot. He sometimes wondered if he should change his routine sometimes, he was incredibly open to stalkers.

His flat was dark and small, although the wires and clogging up every free inch did nothing to help. Not only that but the place was messy. Plates were scattered in every room and cans lay scattered over every surface. Clothes and used underwear littered the floor of the small bedroom, which was massing a door and appeared to be home to several servers. The short male surveyed the mess. Although comforting and familiar, there was something depressing about it to him. When he had discovered his natural aptitude to technology he thought he would go so far, be renowned for having come so far so quickly. Instead he had found himself sitting in an office chair coding for some small company growing more jaded by the day.

Running a long fingered hand through his short cropped hair, he pulled his tie loose, letting it fall from his hands onto the floor carelessly. Rubbing his eyes he filled up the kettle for another cup of coffee.

It was some time later when he noticed the activity outside; loud noises, the sound of movement and voices bright light seeping through the cracks in the venetian blinds. Now dressed in his jeans and tshirt, he pushed the window up letting the cold air billow in. He squinted behind his glasses, trying to focus in. A van, the word removals plastered on the side parked on the other side of the street. Some part of his mind told him he had noticed the sign change from _for sale _to _Sold!_ But he hadn't cared all that much. It hardly affected him. He closed the window retreating back to his computer; slightly disappointed it hadn't been something more interesting.

Far too early in the morning, Sollux placed his half empty _to-go_ cup down on his desk a few centimeters away from his keyboard. Hanging his coat on the back of his chair he sunk down. Taking a sip of the bittersweet liquid he waited for the operating system to load.

Standing at the printer tapping his foot impatiently, Sollux checked his watch it was a Friday and he was itching to leave. He sighed with relief, half an hour and he was free. He'd print this off and have it on the managers desk in twenty then slowly log off before leaving. The printer whirred, a sheet finally emerging, he picked it up, smiling.

"Fef…" He stood over her cubicle, smiling down at her, the prints in his left hand at his eye level. "I do believe these are yours." She pursed her lips looking slightly embarrassed, but with the hint of a smile on her face. She grabbed the papers laughing.

"Did I mix up the printers again?"

"Correct and I'm afraid if it happens again I'll have to report to my manager…" His facial expression and tone completely serious, but he knew she could see the glint in his eyes. Her pink makeup slipped slightly as she cried with laughter. She did this every time she laughed, it may smudge her makeup but Sollux thought it was cute. Indeed, there was not an inch of Feferi that wasn't cute. Right from her love of fish to her bright gaudy clothes, she was perfect. But at the same time Sollux couldn't help but doubt their relationship. There was no doubting the amount he loved her, but at the same time he couldn't help but feel there was something not right. Feferi Peixes was bubbly, funny and arty, with an incredible knack for social situations and a laugh that was contagious. Sollux Captor on the other hand was withdrawn, introverted and with a dark and sarcastic sense of humour. He spent most of his time being as anti-social as possible and struggled to make friends at all. They just had very little in common and their relationship ws very obvious not going anywhere.

"Listen Sol, we're going for a drink later, want to come?"

"Who is 'we'?" He said too quickly, Fef looked slightly taken back for a moment, but soon smoothed it over as if nothing had happened.

"Me, Equius and Eridan." Depiste the shortness of the list she counted each name off on her finger, Sollux noted a rare chip in her obnoxiously pink nail.

"Who?"

"Eridan, you know the new boss here?" She jerked a thumb over to what was basically a glass box at the side of the office. "We dated back in college and he's just moved here, so I thought y'know…"

Sollux sighed, he really didn't want to do the whole interaction with total strangers thing, certainly not with his girlfriends ex; talk about awkward.

"Yeah sure, I'll go."

"Really!?" Her face lit up at the words, Sollux realized she probably thought he had lost interest in her lately and seemed to view this as a sign everything was ok.

"Sure, so what normal time, normal place?" She nodded,

"Yeah, at seven. I'll see you there!"


	2. Drinks n' stinks

Right, I'm sorry about this one. It's riddled with grammatical mistakes and it took so long because I'm really trying to get a kind of accent for Eridan? But I'm not really familiar with them as I am from Taiwan, so I've had to do a bit of research. I'm finding writing in English both harder and more difficult, but if you find something off, please just comment in the review and I will get back as soon as possible! I'd also like to thank you, I got far more follows than I could ever anticipate and even a favourite! Anyway I will shut up now please enjoy!

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Only an idiot quits a 70k per annum job. That's what they told him. Especially when he announced he would be paid half of that. And then when he had announced it'd be over 300 miles from his family they had simply risen in uproar. But in all honesty, it suited him. He'd always felt his family were on his back. About his life choices, not having a girlfriend, not being married, not having a family. Eridan also found his job dull, overly demanding and overpaid. He had too much money, nothing to do with it and found his life had no value. So he quit, found a random place on the map and looked for jobs. He'd found one pretty quick, a independent computer game company, seemed ideal. He'd forwarded his credentials, written a letter and the next thing he knew, he was hired. He sold his house, bought a massive studio flat. It was looking pretty bare so far but he'd ordered a big load of stuff and really wanted to personalise the place.

His first day of work had gone well too. The atmosphere was pretty lay back, his computer was top of the range and he even had a flat screen on the wall. More than he had expected.

The biggest shock of all however was when he discovered his ex-girlfriend was working under him. He'd thought it would have been awkward, considering how it ended, but she was surprisingly cheerful. Even going as far to invite him for a drink later with a few others. He agreed, feeling he could at least make a few friends. And that was how he ended up swirling a gin and tonic morosely as the guy opposite got blind drunk.

He'd got changed before he'd arrived, choosing a sweater and scarf rather than the grey suit he wore for work, they'd settled down in good spirits (all apart from Equius who had shook his hand them communicated in a series of grunts) Feferi and her boyfriend Sollux were in good spirits. Eridan learnt that Fef was a designer now and her boyfriend was a programmer. He was friendly at first, but no sooner had he finished his first Jack Daniel's and Coke than he slipped into a depressive state. The conversation and vibe faded away with him, Feferi becoming increasingly more concerned with Sollux and Eridan's pocket feeling increasingly lighter.

"Aw, Sol you really should stop drinking…" Feferi spoke to him softly and hesitantly, trying to place her arm around him. He sat up slightly, shrugging her off, inaudibly muttering:

"No."

Eridan raised an eyebrow, frowning slightly, an odd relationship to say in the least.

"Can someone take a cab with him, I don't trust him to be alone..." Feferi enquired sweetly, looking around at everyone."

"Bicycle" Sollux muttered to the table.

"What?" Feferi enquired, Sollux simply muttered in return. Eridan raised a second eyebrow, chuckling slightly at the idiot before him.

"I'm guessin' he means he brought his bike so he can't use a taxi, yea? Where you livin' kid?"

Eridan waited for Sollux to respond, but surprisingly Equius did in response.

"He lives a few blocks south of here. By the bus station."

Eridan smiled,

"Well it just so happens that's where I'm currently residin'. I'll bring him home and walk the bike or whatever."

"Oh… Ok, great." Feferi was surprised for a moment, then smiled warmly, illuminating her cheeks which had become flushed by the alcohol. She hugged him, kissing him once on the cheek. "Thanks" she muttered into his ear, "Means a lot to me."

"No problem Fef" Eridan wrapped his scarf around his neck and shrugged on his jacket. "Nice meetin' ya Equius. He grasped the man's hand firmly for a second, before breaking away and sliding a hand under the shoulders of the weedy man.

"C'mon Sol, time to go."

Sollux muttered something that might have been 'Don't call me that' but was lost in a jumble of tongue and lisp.

They'd made it half way back when all of a sudden Sollux stopped dead in the middle of the street.

"Eridan." He said seriously.

"Yes…?" Eridan replied, trying to pull the guy along by the sleeve while pushing his bike.

Sollux pulled away, stumbling slightly has he tripped over his own mismatched shoes.

"You're a massive asshole." Eridan was confused and hurt for a second, trying to think what he could have done.

"Um, can I ask what has brought you to this conclusion."

"Don't think I didn't see you." Sollux snapped back. "I saw you staring a Fef, and the way you acted around her. Well don't even try." Eridan began laughing, turning around to look into his deep hazel eyes.

"Don't sorry, Sol. Chill… I, err… As they say ain't swingin' that way." Sollux frowned in for a moment before opening his mouth to form an 'O' shape.

The silence hung heavily around them, pressing upon them. Eridan debated his next words for a moment, but they came rushing out of his mouth.

"It ain't exactly lookin' like you n' Fef are doin' too good at the moment anyway, though."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sollux snapped, his slurring suddenly down to a minimal.

"Well I'll hope you'll forgive me for sayin' so, but the pair of you were lookin' kinda distant from each other. She didn't even wanna take a ride home with you."

Sollux was dumbfounded. He stared at the taller male, lost for speech. Eridan realised he probably had got himself into a bit of a situation and tried to back track.

"I'm not try'na be offensive or nothin'. It's just that the pair of you just seem to pull away from each other a bit, you know? I'm just getting' the feelin' neither of you are too comfortable with it…"

"Well you are being offensive. So if you'll-" He closed his mouth, very obviously fighting the need to burp. "If you'll excuse me, I live up here, so bye." He began to wander off the main road onto a dimly lit street. Eridan laughed as he watched the man nearly fall into some metal bins of rubbish.

"Don't be goin' anywhere too fast, I live here too."

"You fucking what!" Sollux's usually pale face blushed with anger. "You won't the fucker who moved in opposite me where you?"

"Hey, watch you're fuckin' language. But damn right I was." Eridan couldn't understand why Sollux was getting so pissed. It wasn't as if he'd said anything really that offensive.

"For fucks… I'm just out of here. Fuck off now." Stumbling through the surprisingly still open glass doors of his apartment block, nearly managing to fall off the first step. Eridan stood watching as he disappeared out of sigh. He smiled to himself, something about Sollux Captor had captivated his attention, he wasn't quite sure what yet.

He noted he still had the bike in his hands. Chuckling he brought it in through the narrow door to his house and left it in the corridor, making a mental note to return it tomorrow. Perhaps he'd also bring some painkillers. Kid was sure gonna have a nasty hang over.


	3. The Aftermath

I'm sorry this is small. I'm trying to focus on quality rather than quantity? It's a but of a dip from the others, but hopefully the next chapter will be churned out pretty soon! Have smaller chunks more frequently makes it easier for my to check for mistakes in my English. As always, please let me know if there are mistakes, it's all apart of learning!

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He was flying, headed straight upward, ripping out of the atmosphere, planets zooming past him, traveling a million miles an hour and so slowly at the same time. He couldn't help but think how beautiful it was, amongst the oddly coloured planets, the brightness of starts and then, the red and blue of galaxies. And then, and then hit shattered, an immense tug dragging him down. Through the galaxy, past the stars, past the planets, all this time gaining momentum. He plummeted, through the atmosphere again, through the clouds. He could se far below him, the lights, the ground but most of all, the immense vastness of the ocean, rushing up to meet him. He spread out flat, the g-force rippling his skin and scraping the hair off his face. Closing his eyes he loosened his body, preparing for the splash. But instead of being cold and hard as he expected, it was warm and soft and silky, engulfing him entirely.

Opening his eyes, Sollux realised he was not in fact underwater, but cocooned in his duvet. Pulling a pillow over his head he tried to block the banging noise that was reverberating around his skull. Slowly coming out of his unconscious state, he realised it was the door. Draping himself in the duvet, he waddled over to the door, undoing the cheap lock with both hands.

Upon seeing the character on the other side, he jutted his chin out defiantly.

"Oh, it's you."

"No need to be so rude" Eridan Ampora remarked as he pushed the bike toward Sollux. "I was only returnin' this."

Sollux took the bike off the man's hands and shuffled back with it, gingerly placing it against the hall radiator.

"Well thanks I guess?"

"No problem. Jeeze you were wasted last night. Bet you're feelin' terrible now, huh?"

"Haha, yeah…" Sollux replied flatly aiming to shut the door, but Eridan placed his foot against the wood, stopping him short.

"Listen, Sol. How do you fancy comin' to the café? Get a fry up for your head, yea?"

"No." Sollux said firmly, going to close the door again.

"I'll pay." His voice was pleading. Blue eyes met blood shot ones. Sollux's resolve almost dissolved then, but he narrowed his eyes and retorted.

"No."

"But why…?" The drawling tone really made Sollux wince, this guy was really annoying him.

"Because I don't know, or particularly like you."

"Well you could at least come over to mine for a coffee…" Sollux kept a dead pan expression in reply, Eridan furrowed his brow, pleading now. "Please…?" With a dramatic sigh, Sollux rubbed his eyes.

"Fine." He breathed heavily. "Just let me put some pants on."


	4. Three Months Later

My apologies for the length of time this is taking. And for how short this chapter is. I will be posting more and longer soon. As always, please let me know of any errors and please comment to give feedback. Thanking you!

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Sollux was never quite sure when it had happened. For all intents and purposes he had hated Eridan Ampora with every iota of his being. The way he'd shown him his luxurious apartment with that smug look on his face. Sollux loathed it, detested it. He'd envied it, which was partially why he loathed him so much. But then, Ampora had insisted upon joining him in cycling to work and had then gone as far to began talking to him during work. Sly glances over the tops of cubicles and small talks over the photocopier. Sollux had found himself increasingly working more under Eridan and had eventually begun working directly under him.

He'd loathed all of it. And yet… And yet, there was a part of him that had lit up upon learning of his new job and set the alarm an hour early in order to properly get ready for work sleeping an hour earlier to make sure the bags under his eyes weren't too prominent.

And there was the fact he was sitting here now, staring down in to the murky depths of his espresso.

"Your breaking up with me?" Feferi squeaked, the distress audible in her voice. Sollux dipped his head in shame, trying not to snort slightly at the cliché.

"Well… Yes, basically." His lips caused him to spray his spittle lightly. Embarrassed, he looked up to check she hadn't noticed, but immediately regretted it. Her cheeks were flushed a pale shade of pink and her eyes were watery, on the verge of tears.

The silence hung awkwardly, and Sollux took a sip of his coffee to ease the tension.

'Over priced and repulsive' He thought 'Chain brands are never good quality.'

"You know what, it's ok." Sollux's head shot up in alarm at the sudden softness in her voice.

"It is?" He asked, surprised.

"Yes." Smiling, Feferi took a sip of her drink, placing it back on the hard wooden table with a soft clunk. She'd composed herself now; she didn't look upset anymore, but slightly happy. "I had felt things weren't right for a long time. I'm glad I have clearance, I guess." She stood, removing her long parka from the back of her chair and shrugging it on. "I'll see you round, yes? No reason we can't be friends."

The smile broke Sollux's heart, he leaned forward, head in hands breathing heavily, staring at his own reflection in the murky brown liquid.

It wasn't until he was nearly home he began crying; at first slowly, a single tear running down his cheek, icy in the bitter winter cold. And then rapidly and more rapidly, until he was sobbing, his hands barely able to wipe away his tears fast enough.

"Hey, Sol!" 'Not now…' Sollux moaned internally. He opened his mouth to reply, but fell short as all that came out was a chocked sob.

Eridan had run up toward him, a grin on his face, but upon seeing Sollux's face, froze, to be replaced a second later with a look of concern.

"Hey Sol, you ain't lookin' too good there. Mind tellin' me what happened?"

Shaking his head aggressively Sollux bit his lip attempting to contain his crying, he chocked back a sob and managed to clear out

"I'd rather be alone."

"You sure? Because I think what you really need is a talk, n' we got plenty of time for talkin' if I'm not mistaken?"

He hesitated for a moment, thinking it through.

"C'mon" Eridan coaxed, placing his hands on each of Solux's shoulders pushing lightly. "It'll be nice!"

"Ok" Sollux murmured unwittingly, allowing himself to be pushed by the taller, more muscular male.


	5. Chapter 5

Again, this is shorter than I would have liked. But at least I got it out soon, huh? Again, please, please, please comment on any errors, as English is not my first language. Please review and enjoy! :)

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His eyes were downcast, staring into the vapour produced by his coffee. Sollux looked tired, confused and old beyond his years, yet Eridan still saw something attractive about his face; the well-defined jaw, deep blue eyes and thick black hair. Not stereotypically attractive, but nether the less had a king of uniqueness about it that Eridan couldn't tear his eyes away from.

Eridan was pleased to note that Sollux had stopped crying in the time it had taken to make two coffees. His eyes were still bloodshot and the tip of his nose pink but he now just looked sad. Something moved in Eridan's stomach and a he quickly took a seat on the opposite side of the coffee table, leaning forward to get a good look at the other man's face.

"So, what happened?" He attempted a note of tenderness in his voice, but Sollux still burst back into tears. Eridan winced, kicking himself for being so blunt.

"I-" Sollux paused, tilting his head upward and looking at the ceiling. Eridan was more than familiar with what he was doing: trying to compose himself.

"I… Me and Fef broke up." He chocked out, placing his head in his hands.

"Aw, what she dumped you?"

"No, I… I broke up with her." Eridan's brow furrowed, why was he so upset then? It didn't make any sense.

"But… Why are you upset?"

"I'm not too sure." Sollux sniffed, and Eridan reached under the table pulling out a box of tissues he kept for such occasions, or more likely for when he watched a sad movie alone.

"C'mon, you must know." He smiled comfortingly, placing a hand upon the shorter male's shoulder.

"Well-" Sollux hesitated wiping his nose on a tissue, Eridan held up the waste paper basket with his left hand, placing it by Sollux's battered, mud splattered Converse.

"Go on."

"I... I don't really know. I'm so confused. I've been with her ages but I don't feel… Right. I mean..." He gulped slightly at his words, and took another man-sized tissue for his nose. "Everything was fine. But I feel we're too distant, you get me? Like, I was becoming more apathetic and she didn't seem to… Care?" Eridan leaned back in his chair, taking a sip of his coffee, twisting his mouth to the side. Sure, he felt bad for Sollux, but there was a small part of him that was punching the air.

"I understand. But why is it still upsettin' ya, Sol?"

"It's just… I still like her. I just don't love her?"

"Hmm…" Eridan stroked the thin layer of stubble growing on his square jaw.

He made a mental note to buy a new razor next time he was shopping. His current one was blunt and didn't give as close a shave as he desired.

"You've got new paintings?" Sollux asked, changing the subject suddenly. Eridan, so lost in his thoughts had to think for a moment before replying.

"Yea, I've been workin' on them in my free time."

"You're an artist?" Sollux's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "I thought you were more of a business type, given your job and all. "

"Haha, yeah my _career_ is. But before that I was all set on bein' a comic artist. I even had a placement as an intern at one point."

"What made you change your mind?"

"I didn't…" Reflecting for a moment, he twisted his mouth thinking about his next action. "Here, wait a second. I'll show you somethin'."

Returning a few minutes later, Eridan clutched a large black plastic folder, about a metre in width and began to unzip it, propping it up against the leather of his chair. Flicking through the large sheets as big as the folder, he reached in, pulling out a few smaller sheets.

"These are some panel redraws of some old comic books I did. And a few of my own strips."

Eridan watched on tender hooks as Sollux shifted through the images. It was impossible to read the look on his face, but he had stopped crying in the very least.

"These are good, professional quality even!" Eridan breathed a sigh of relief. It was not very often he showed his artwork to people, and for some reason it seemed vitally important Sollux liked them.

"Yeah, they're just the small ones! I'll show you some of my larger pieces." He reached into the folder again, flicking through until he found a good one.

"This was a painting I did while on vacation Verona. I think it'd the best I've ever done." He handed over one of the larger sheets to Sollux, who took it delicately and viewed it with some reverence.

"This is… Wow. This is incredible. You should hang this up somewhere. It's really good."

"Nah, I prefer to keep them away. They're kinda precious to me and I prefer to keep 'em where only I can see 'em." He took the sheet back and placed it carefully in the folder, zipping it up. Sollux checked his watch and picked up his coat and began heading to the door.

"Well thanks for the coffee, but I have to go. I'll see you around."

"See you tomorrow Sol!" Eridan shouted, dashing to get the door.

Closing it behind Sollux, Eridan leant back against the wall, heaving a sigh. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, lost in thought. There was something about Sollux he found… Addictive. Everything down to his depressive looks, deadpan voice and sarcastic attitude he found intoxicating. Sitting down on the sofa he ran a hand through his gelled hair, thinking. Eventually, he shook his head, leaning back and switching on the TV.


End file.
